In the system, a proxy email address is displayed in whois. Email sent to this proxy email address is then forwarded to the domain owner’s actual email address, usually after running through a spam filter.

A number of GoDaddy’s competitors use similar systems, including Network Solutions and Demand Media’s eNom. To date, GoDaddy has not publicly asserted its patents, except for cross-licensing. Its patent war chest (most of which are merely pending patents) could make the company an attractive acquisition target, and also deters other companies from suing it for patent infringement.

why does any one want to be so secretive by using this sort of system if they are playing by the rules on the up and up…you can get a patent I suppose, but when in the age of Halvarez?
You propose conducting routine business in such a manner as routine?
Well lets say that raises an eyebrow here.

@maqui: The way the patent system works (in very simple terms) is that the patent office will award a patent if there is no “prior art” for the patent.

This means that Godaddy convinced the patent examiner that no one was doing anything like this BEFORE them (the idea wasn’t well known or published anywhere). It was a new & unique idea when they thought of it (doesn’t seem so new anymore).

The patent can later be invalidated if another person/company can show prior art.

So it doesn’t matter that NAME.COM has this feature now, if they didn’t have it first.

However, there is a lot more to it. The patent office is only supposed to award patents for non-obvious inventions…

The U.S. supreme court is currently reviewing the entire idea of “software patents” — the original idea of patents only applied to mechanical devices. They should have a judgement in 2009 — which could be a game changer.